AIMED at Scots across the globe ScotlandNow.com will bring the very best news, sport, features and social media connections right to desktops and mobiles around the world

THE Daily Record is today proud to announce the arrival of the latest addition to the family – Scotland Now
.

The website
from Media Scotland, publishers of the Daily Record, Sunday Mail and Scotland’s favourite local papers, launches today to help bring the very
best of our amazing country to the world.

Aimed at Scots expats and the Scottish
diaspora – the 50 million around the world with proud Scottish links – ScotlandNow.com will bring the very best news, sport, features and social media connections right to desktops and mobiles around the world.

The site joins the Media Scotland family in the biggest year for our country in generations.

With the independence referendum,
the Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup and the MTV Europe Awards all taking place this year, there has never been more interest in Scotland.

The
site will deliver a daily update of news, sport, comment and features and will act as a new global voice and online community for Scotland.

A 24/7 social media stream will encourage Scots to share their views, opinions and lives with others,
wherever they are in the world.

Allan
Rennie, Media Scotland’s managing director, said: “If ever there was a time to harness the energy of the diaspora it is now – when the eyes of the world are on Scotland.

“This
is a dynamic development and shows the level of digital ambition we have within the business. Ultimately, our aim is to make the site the No1 destination for Scots and fans of
Scotland, wherever they are in the world.”

The site is for those of Scots birth, Scots ancestry, or even if you are just a fan of all things Scottish.

Scotland Now will promote and highlight the best of Scottish business interests and will be involved in
partnerships with key brands to feature bespoke advertising campaigns, sponsorships and editorial partnerships on the site.

Launch partners include Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.

The
site will also bring the best of Scotland’s creative community in the online shop ScotlandNowShop.com that will deliver items direct to your door wherever you are in the world.

You will be able to buy items such as jewellery, clothing, artwork and craft design from the cream of
Scottish design and production talent.

The Scotland Now team will be led by editor Katrina Tweedie and will be supported by an in-house team of editorial and commercial staff, as well as a network of contributors.

Katrina
said: “Unashamedly patriotic, Scotland Now will be a place for Scots throughout the world to share what we’re talking, reading, thinking and laughing about.

“Working with like-minded partners, our goal is to promote and celebrate everything that makes Scotland great.

“There are 50 million people living around the world who have strong emotional connections to Scotland.

“While
there are small publications and associations dotted around the globe, no one has really been able to tap into the power of that diaspora.”

Scotland Now is already packed with
great news and intriguing features. Professors John Curtice and Tom Devine provide expert analysis of the referendum campaign.

And in keeping with the 2014 theme, there are exclusive interviews with the Ryder Cup captains.

Scottish football is well covered, with a series of great features on the game.

In
response to one of the biggest expat crises of the last year, a Scotland Now correspondent goes undercover in Canada to check on the supply of banned Irn-Bru in certain stores.

Design gurus Colin and Justin, who have become telly stars in Canada, also report for the website.

There will be a look at peculiar Scottish words and a How Scottish Are You? quiz, as well as features on the funniest Scottish videos to ever go viral.

Katrina said: “In a year when Scotland takes centre stage, we believe this is the perfect time for a website that speaks to global Scots.

“No
one loves Scotland more than its expats and the millions around the world with an affinity to Scotland and it feels great to be celebrating the best of Scotland with them.

“So
we would like to ask Record readers to tell their relatives and friends
abroad to connect with our site and follow us on social media because this website is for them and anyone else with a connection to Scotland.”

The site has already been inundated with messages of support.

First Minister Alex Salmond said: “I’d like to wish the very best to Scotland Now, another publication
to add to our thriving media industry and at long last a platform to connect the millions of Scots around the world with what’s happening back home.”

Speaking from his home in the Bahamas, Sir Sean Connery said: “Good luck Scotland Now, I wish you all the very best”.